---
title: ThinkPad R400 
x-toc-enable: true
...

<div class="specs">
<center>
![ThinkPad R400]()
</center>

| ***Specifications***       |                                                |
|----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| **Manufacturer**           | Lenovo                                         |
| **Name**                   | ThinkPad R400                                  |
| **Released**               | 2009                                           |
| **Chipset**                | Intel Cantiga GM45                             |
| **CPU**                    | Intel Core 2 Duo (Penryn/Merom family) or 
                                                   Celeron M (Merom L family) |
| **Graphics**               | Intel GMA 4500MHD (and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 
                                                         3470 or nVIDIA 
												GeForce 9300M on some models) |
| **Display**                | 1280x800/1440x900 TFT                          |
| **Memory**                 | Up to 8GB                                      |
| **Architecture**           | x86_64                                         |
| **EC**                     | Proprietary                                    |
| **Original boot firmware** | LenovoBIOS                                     |
| **Intel ME/AMD PSP**       | Present. Can be completly disabled.            |
| **Flash chip**             | SOIC-8/SOIC-16 4MiB/8MiB (Upgradable to 16MiB) |

```
W+: Works without blobs; 
N: Doesn't work; 
W*: Works with blobs; 
U: Untested; 
P+: Partially works; 
P*: Partially works with blobs
```

| ***Features*** |                                       |
|----------------|---------------------------------------|
| **Internal flashing with original boot firmware** | N  |
| **Display**                                       | W+ |
| **Audio**                                         | W+ |
| **RAM Init**                                      | W+ |
| **External output**                               | W+ |
| **Display brightness**                            | P+ |

| ***Payloads supported***  |           |
|---------------------------|-----------|
| **GNU GRUB**              | Works     |
| **SeaBIOS**               | Works     |
| **SeaBIOS with GNU GRUB** | Works     |
</div>
It is believed that all or most R400 laptops are compatible. See notes
about [CPU
compatibility](../install/r400_external.html#cpu_compatibility) for
potential incompatibilities.

There are two possible flash chip sizes for the R400: 4MiB (32Mbit) or
8MiB (64Mbit). This can be identified by the type of flash chip below
the palmrest: 4MiB is SOIC-8, 8MiB is SOIC-16.

*The R400 laptops come with the ME (and sometimes AMT in addition)
before flashing libreboot. libreboot disables and removes it by using a
modified descriptor: see [../install/ich9utils.md](../install/ich9utils.md)*
(contains notes, plus instructions)

Flashing instructions can be found at
[../install/\#flashrom](../install/#flashrom)

EC update {#ecupdate}
=========

It is recommended that you update to the latest EC firmware version. The
[EC firmware](../../faq.md#ec-embedded-controller-firmware) is separate from
libreboot, so we don't actually provide that, but if you still have
Lenovo BIOS then you can just run the Lenovo BIOS update utility, which
will update both the BIOS and EC version. See:

-   [../install/#flashrom](../install/#flashrom)
-   <http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_update_without_optical_disk>

NOTE: this can only be done when you are using Lenovo BIOS. How to
update the EC firmware while running libreboot is unknown. libreboot
only replaces the BIOS firmware, not EC.

Updated EC firmware has several advantages e.g. bettery battery
handling.

The R400 is almost identical to the X200, code-wise. See
[x200.md](x200.md).

TODO: put hardware register logs here like on the [X200](x200.md) and
[T400](t400.md) page.
